The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 326

The European Union in Prophecy
23. What is the Sanctuary?
The scripture which above all others had been both the foundation and the
central pillar of the advent faith was the declaration: "Unto two thousand and three
hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8:14. These had been
familiar words to all believers in the Lord's soon coming. By the lips of thousands was
this prophecy repeated as the watchword of their faith. All felt that upon the events
therein foretold depended their brightest expectations and most cherished hopes.
These prophetic days had been shown to terminate in the autumn of 1844. In common
with the rest of the Christian world, Adventists then held that the earth, or some
portion of it, was the sanctuary. They understood that the cleansing of the sanctuary
was the purification of the earth by the fires of the last great day, and that this would
take place at the second advent. Hence the conclusion that Christ would return to the
earth in 1844.
But the appointed time had passed, and the Lord had not appeared. The
believers knew that God's word could not fail; their interpretation of the prophecy
must be at fault; but where was the mistake? Many rashly cut the knot of difficulty
by denying that the 2300 days ended in 1844. No reason could be given for this except
that Christ had not come at the time they expected Him. They argued that if the
prophetic days had ended in 1844, Christ would then have returned to cleanse the
sanctuary by the purification of the earth by fire; and that since He had not come, the
days could not have ended.
To accept this conclusion was to renounce the former reckoning of the prophetic
periods. The 2300 days had been found to begin when the commandment of
Artaxerxes for the restoration and building of Jerusalem went into effect, in the
autumn of 457 B.C. Taking this as the starting point, there was perfect harmony in
the application of all the events foretold in the explanation